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[RV Pundit]

I agree - luckly we are somehow dealing with population growth - and we have opportunities like M-pesa to leafrog. I think South Korea model is overplayed. I don't think kenya is doing that badly..in 10-15yrs we will be in South Africa level - around 5K usd gdp per capita - with around 200-300B usd economy.

Pundit the organic growth - with GDP rate equal to population increase - will get us nowhere. The US and Japan didn't just dump $$ into S. Korea. Look at their ease-of-doing-business - I think they are top 10 for decades now. In other words they got the recipe a while back. Sony, Samsung, Hyundai, Daewoo, Ramtons, etc are all homegrown S. Korean MNCs. This is where innovation comes in. If you look at Israel you will see how our problems are kids play. Fix the infra - roads, rail, power, housing, internet,.. - and the rest is domino.

It rarely works without leapfrogs - and our dire state does not stop us from exploring this path.

[Nefertiti]

You will be surprised to find folks don't know this. They believe Moi or Kenyatta took all their money. The peanut $75B economy yields just $15B revenues - 20% of GDP - while UK with equal population and size has $1T revenues. And some folks think social welfare can work here like in the UK or Sweden.

Kenya is not nigeria with oil money to siphon - there is very little to siphon here - we are talking taxes - about 20% of GDP - with maybe 10-20% of that being siphoned - so roughly we are talking about 2% of GDP being siphoned - mostly internally. Kenya is poor because it's poor.

From Jomo's days, we're always, and I mean ALWAYS, looking for reasons to continue the patronage system of government. Selective ignorance of historical lessons is a major part of our many problems.

Out of curiosity, just how much (a ballpark figure suffices) has our political class siphoned out of Kenya over the last 50 years or so? Wouldn't that cash alone have been enough to transform Kenya without our well worn begging bowls?

Neither coalition wants change for wanainchi. They want the big seat and things to continue as before. That's all they understand.

[gout]

What democracy where tribe supersedes any rational thinking? Till in 50 years when problems such as unemployment, hunger, collapsed hospitals and poor roads, rise above tribal lords mobilisation, there is little hope for Africa. Serious plunder as being executed by Jubilee and regimes across Africa can work well to lessen the timelines given the investments into education.

[MOON Ki]

South Korea is small country of 100km by 100km - that is size of one county in kenya - and the amount of dollars and fdi they got from US - was enough to transform it anyway- and fact that it sit next to Japan - an industrial power house - make that model inapplicable to kenya.

At a first cut, population size is more significant that physical area.   The population of South Korea is around 51 million.

Area matters in terms of land for agriculture and population density etc.   In any case you have the area hopelessly wrong.   It is nothing like 100km by 100km.    Do you ever get tired of simply making up absurd "facts"?

Also, while Kenya might be physically large, the population is actually concentrated in a relatively small part.

Given that you are so far off-base on even basic facts, it would probably be pointless to ask you give USA FDI amounts by year, what it went into, and what effect it had.   For example, what was the total amount of FDI that went into South Korea from all sources (not just the USA) from, say, 1960 to 1980?  When did the country liberalize regulations on FDI?  Etc.

Likewise it would probably be pointless to ask you exactly how the proximity of Japan made that "model" more applicable in South Korea than it would be elsewhere.

All in all, I'd recommend a quick study of some simple facts and then a real reading of the history of the place.   

[MOON Ki]

Do this - as individual do it - start a small manufacturing company and get out of poverty - and that will be nice example for many to follow.

And then adds:

Of course talk is cheap.

Indeed.   

But yet:

it just need to double it's growth rate.

Yep.  It just need that to do that.   Simple like that.

[MOON Ki]

The people who were starving are facing floods right now. Turkana. They are least bothered by political news from Nairobi.

Yes, right now.  Are food problems in Turkana new? Does anyone in Kenya ever look beyond "right now"?  And are the seriously-hungry really  just in Turkana?  Take a close look at the data. 

Uncle Sam (where the first "international community, saidia please!" will go) has, since around July, been warning that Kenyan food production in 2017 will be significantly lower than in 2016---by about 20%-30%---and that this will cause significant problems in supply and prices.   For the entire country.

Anyone (especially "leaders") in The Great Country planning, or even just talking, about that?  Also take a look at all the warnings that have been flying since the start of 2017.

[GeeMail]

Someone stickied this topic? Perhaps Windy's latest thread on Okiya Omtatah's petition will be more up to date. I'll drop this one and bring his up.